Are you interested in creating your video conference app like Zoom? Perhaps you have a unique idea for something like a Discord clone for software developers, a video-sharing app for drones, a conference app for VR, or even a simple Zoom clone for your local market. You’re in the right place! Here, we’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how to bring your app idea to life, how to run a software business, how to take advantage of AI, and how to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) on a tiny budget.
At Ateam Soft Solutions, we specialize in delivering top-notch app development services to businesses across Australia. With more than 200 mobile and web apps created by our expert app developers, we understand the nuances of developing successful software solutions. In this guide, we’ll help you navigate through the process of validating your idea, identifying challenges, and understanding pricing for your app.
Before jumping into development, let’s start by identifying the essential components of a video conference app. Depending on your business goals, these can include:
Building your app requires thorough planning around aspects such as quality assurance, bug fixing, project management, and ongoing maintenance. Estimating the cost of developing your unique features can be challenging, but don’t worry – we’ll dive into pricing for basic MVP functionality later in this guide.
Here’s a pro tip for you: If your investor contract requires an in-house development team, you’ll need to allocate a budget based on US or EU rates. However, outsourcing software development expenditures or choosing to hire remote developers from countries like Ukraine can be a game-changer, offering immense value for money. Many successful startups like GitLab, Grammarly, and Jooble have tapped into the expertise of Ukrainian app developers to build world-class software at a fraction of the cost.
Ukraine has emerged as a hidden gem in the software development world. Developers from Ukraine have excellent English skills, a strong math background, and innovative thinking that helps them think outside the box. Outsourcing here can significantly reduce your development costs while maintaining high standards of quality.
Starting your app development journey requires careful strategy. Many beginners often focus all their energy on coding, especially if they come from a software development background. But at the end of the day, they have a polished product without knowing how to run the business side – sales, marketing, finance, market research, team building, and adaptation to market changes. Without these, the business is unlikely to succeed.
A perfect example is one of our previous clients who spent eight years adding features to his food delivery service. He never launched the product live because he kept chasing the illusion of a perfect app. This endless cycle of adding features can kill your startup.
Before starting your mobile app development, you must shift your focus from building a mobile app to building a business that solves real problems for your target audience. Understand their needs, pains, and desires, and create your app as the solution to those problems.
Remember, your resources (time, money, and motivation) are limited. Business is like war, and according to Sun Tzu, you must make a quick and effective strike. Your strategy should not be about doing more but about doing the right things with laser focus.
The first step in ensuring your business’s success is creating an MVP, which is not just a buzzword but a core philosophy. You must concentrate on the features that are truly important to your users and eliminate all the unnecessary extras. Building an MVP means putting all your focus and attention on solving your audience’s key problems and scaling from there.
Picture this: You’re building a Zoom clone. Your initial feature list includes login, video chat, chat functionality, subscriptions, and screen sharing. But do you truly need all these features for your MVP? Could you perhaps use a third-party framework for chat or postpone screen sharing until version 2.0?
A few years back, one of our clients wanted to launch a dating app targeted at the Asian market. We focused on building a simple website that highlighted the app’s benefits and used data-driven insights from Facebook ads to guide feature prioritization. This approach helped us meet user needs with minimal features, and the app quickly became a success with users willing to pay a $500 monthly subscription.
If you are creating a clone of an existing solution, you need to find a unique angle to present your product. If you’re creating just another video chat app without any unique advantages, you will be seen as a commodity, and users will look for the cheapest or most popular option.
Hidden gem: Check the negative comments of your competitors to discover what problems users are facing. This can reveal areas you need to focus on to create a successful app clone.
Every business starts with a plan, but rather than a lengthy traditional business plan, a Lean Canvas is the perfect tool to use. It uncovers all the hidden aspects you need to focus on and helps you quickly identify what truly matters. This knowledge comes from sources like Eric Ries’ Lean Startup, Ash Maurya’s Lean Canvas, and our own experience with over 1,000 Lean Canvas workshops.
The first step is understanding your user groups and their main pain points. What are their struggles, and how can your service address these issues? Next, explore your competitors and the solutions they offer. Identify their strengths and weaknesses, then figure out how you can create a unique solution for your niche.
Don’t limit your research to industry giants – you can gain valuable insights by exploring smaller startups in different countries. You may discover a hidden gem that could give you an edge in the Australian market.
Sometimes the best strategy is to copy your competitors’ successful tactics and adapt them to your business. Find their unfair advantage and use it to your benefit.
Your unfair advantage is what sets you apart from your competitors. It could be something as simple as your personal charisma, your network, secret industry knowledge, or even the use of advanced AI technology.
For example, my friend Carl had access to corporate contact databases during his time working in the corporate sector. This gave him an unfair advantage when he launched his food delivery service focused on the corporate sector, which eventually led to $25 million in funding.
Once you’ve identified your unique advantage, it’s time to target your early adopters. These are the pioneers who will test your service and provide the most valuable feedback at an early stage. Find out where they spend their time online, create a compelling marketing hook, and engage them.
Early adopters can be reached through social media platforms like Discord, Telegram, or by using influencers. Keep a close eye on your app’s performance and user feedback to make data-driven improvements.
You don’t need millions of users to be profitable. Success can come from a small, loyal user base with the right monetization strategy. Create a valuable offer for your audience, and you can achieve significant results even with just 1,000 customers.
A key concept here is “selling dollars with a discount.” This strategy makes your offer irresistible to users by creating high value. Always make data-driven decisions when testing monetization strategies using platforms like Facebook or Google Ads.
Selecting the right tech stack is one of the most critical decisions you’ll make. When building a video conference app like Zoom, the tech stack you choose will determine your app’s performance, scalability, and future growth potential.
Choosing the wrong tech stack can lead to slow user interfaces, high costs, and challenges with scaling your app in the future. Plan ahead by selecting the appropriate tools that allow your MVP to grow into a fully-featured app.
The Agile methodology is one of the most effective frameworks for speeding up app development. However, it’s important to apply Agile correctly to avoid common pitfalls.
For smaller teams (5 developers or fewer), tools like Trello, Asana, and Google Docs may suffice. But as your team grows, you’ll need more advanced tools like Jira to manage sprints and track team velocity. Establish processes such as daily standups, SCRUM, sprints, and retrospective meetings to ensure smooth communication and development progress.
Once your app is up and running, it’s essential to collect user analytics to improve your app continuously. Tools like Google Analytics, Firebase, and Mixpanel allow you to track critical metrics like user behavior, session frequency, and more.
Collecting and analyzing user data will help you understand how users engage with your app and highlight areas for improvement.
Several years ago, we developed an app for an Austrian multimillionaire who offered real estate courses online. After integrating analytics, we discovered that 95% of users were only using the video and audio features, even though the app had many other functions. By moving his webinars to the front page, we were able to double his revenue in just four months.
AI can be a game-changer for your app. But be cautious of “quick-fix” AI solutions like ChatGPT APIs or Chrome extensions that are unlikely to sustain long-term business success. Instead, explore more robust AI tools like LangChain, Hugging Face, or AI agents that can provide real value to your users.
By leveraging AI, you can apply the Uberization framework – the idea of transforming an industry by solving real problems in a unique way – to your business.
Imagine a SaaS platform that enables companies to upload their support guidelines into your database. Their support staff could then use your AI-driven chatbot assistant to answer job-related or customer-related questions, reducing staff costs and improving efficiency.
Building a successful video conference app or any other app requires careful planning, strategic focus, and smart execution. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create an MVP that solves real problems, engage early adopters, and use data-driven decisions to scale your business.
At Ateam Soft Solutions, we offer expert app development services tailored to your specific needs. If you’re ready to build your app and need support, schedule a 30-minute consultation with us to discuss how we can turn your idea into a money-making machine.
